After a three week break, Leinster are back in action on a Friday night in Swansea.
They take on an Ospreys team in 12th place with four wins and a draw from ten matches so far. Last season the Ospreys were the best of the Welsh teams and they even managed to sneak into the top eight.
We're back!
It took a while for them to find their groove but once they did, Ireland were back playing great rugby and scoring fabulous tries. And scoring tries with speed!!! Remember speed? Lovely, lovely speed! Not just getting the ball into the twenty two and bashing it over the line inch by inch after twenty-odd pick and drives.
It's Six Nations time again and we start with traditionally the big game against the auld enemy.
Well, in fairness with England's history they have plenty of "auld enemies", but it remains the biggest game for Ireland. It's also a huge money spinner for Dublin as the English fans arrive to drink the town dry.
After all the talk about Leinster's supreme defence in recent weeks, it was some shock to the system to all concerned when Leinster were 14-0 down after seven minutes. Bath targeted the two centres Leinster had picked on the wings by getting the ball out wide really quickly. After that horror start, Leinster recovered well, dominated possession and took the lead a few minutes before half-time.
Now we know how South African fans felt during the last World Cup!
Leinster won, and they deserved to win over all, but they seriously rode their luck in a horribly tense finale to the game. With twenty minutes left, it looked like it was all going to plan. Leinster had soaked up loads of pressure in the first half but defended superbly and never really looked like conceding a try.
All hail the BlueBoks!
It has been noted in the media that Leinster are now really resembling Jacque Nienaber's South African sides. They're defending like madmen and conceding loads of penalties but very few points. While they are still scoring lots of points, the attacking game looks a lot more basic and blunt though, again like Nienaber's South African sides.
Posted by: Neilmd11 (February 17th, 2025, 7:28 am)
Posted by: ronk (February 16th, 2025, 10:46 pm)